The GMT+2 time zone to Hungary movement

“5 billion forint worth real energy saving and better quality of life for people living in Hungary if we shift our clocks forward by 2 hours!” This is the short summary of the ‘GMT+2 to Hungary’ movement’s proposal, which’s primary aim is to gear our rhythm of life more to the course of the Sun.

As greenwichmeantime.com writes Hungary is currently in the Central European Time Zone. Central European Standard Time (CET) is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1). Like most states in Europe, Summer (Daylight-Saving) Time is observed in Hungary, where the time is shifted forward by 1 hour;  2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+2). After the summer months the time in Hungary is shifted back by 1 hour to Central European Time (CET) or (GMT+1).

However, the ‘GMT+2 to Hungary’ movement thinks that we are simply in the wrong time zone. The GMT+1 time zone in Central Europe prefers early morning light instead of light in the evenings. They believe that this is not too good for us since there are much more people awake at 8 pm than around 5-6 am early in the morning, when the Sun gets up.

We’re shifting our clocks forward this weekend, which means the saving of energy used in a year by a whole town, and so our evenings will be brighter by one hour. The movement emphasizes BRIGHTNESS because it doesn’t only mean +1 hour, but also that we get more chance to spend our free time worthily and pleasantly. You can go fishing, cycling, swimming in the lake, do some gardening, go out with your friends, walk your dog in the park, take your kids to the playground and many other things due to the bright evenings.

In the proposed GMT+2 time zone we would have this same shift in the winter, while we would have +1 hour in the summer compared to our current Summer Time. This would mean two towns worth energy saving, billions of forints and even more brightness in our lives. The plus light we’d get in the evenings would determine our everyday lives and lead to a better, healthier and happier life.

The photo depicts the amount of energy we could save in the proposed time zone (keeping the shiftings). Vertically: GMT+1 with shifting (currently), GMT+1 without shifting, GMT+2 with shifting (proposal) and GMT+2 without shifting. Horizontally: energy consumption, difference, gross price of energy and difference. The photo states that the total saving would be 9% which equals a 91,119 tons carbon dioxide emission!

The direct connection with the course of the Sun broke with the spread of electricity. Nowadays, people are awake for a much longer time after sunset than our antecedents were. We wake up later in the morning, which means that many of us sleep for many hours after sunrise and use too much artificial light in the evenings.

The whole idea comes from Gábor Herman who works as a telecommunication engineer. A few years ago he got the chance to spend some time in Paris, where he experienced that the course of the Sun was very different than in Hungary, and it resulted in brighter Parisian evenings. People had much more opportunities to spend their free time and maintain their health after work. So he thought to himself: why couldn’t we have this in Hungary?

The photo shows how cities look like at 8:25 pm in the current time zones and how different Budapest would look like in the proposed time zone

Not long after he got home he realised that we have the opposite of this in Hungary: the sun rises at 4 am at the end of June but most people wake up 2-2,5 hours later. The Sun literally shines on us when we wake up in summertime. On the other hand, the sun goes down at quarter to 9 pm, but most people stay up for 1-2 or even more hours and use electric lighting.

These two observations led Gábor to the idea that was followed by calculations and the proposal. During the calculations they compared the wakefulness of the citizens and the sunrise-sunset in the current and proposed time zone. They also compared the remunerativeness of the Winter and Summer time (the shifting). The idea quickly spread with the help of social media and gained supporters, although there are many people who criticise it.

Many people think that the proposal is about the time shifting which was started in 1980 and is very much disliked and disputed by people, but it is not. They did the calculations with and without the shiftings and calculated the number of days when it is still bright after 8 pm. These calculations show that it would be the best for most people if the time shiftings stayed but our clocks were ahead with +1 hour.

This is how Europe would look like if only Hungary joined the GTM+2 time zone

All in all, the movement thinks that the GMT+2 time zone has more advantages than disadvantages and they are open to further suggestions. The change wouldn’t be hurtful, it could be done easily without expenses, and it would save billions of forints and reduce the CO₂ emissions. It is up to you to decide whether or not you agree with the proposal!

Click here for the detailed proposal!

Photos: www.facebook.com/gmt2tohungary

Copy editor: bm

Source: Daily News Hungary